Out of Sight, Out of Mind
by onlyonceinforever
Summary: After Brian Cassidy leaves the SVU, he is inducted into the Narcotics family. But there's something a bit off about one of his new family members. Crappy summary. M for later chapters.
1. Meeting the Family

**Disclaimer: Wow, if I owned SVU, Cassidy would definitely not have transferred to Narcotics. But he did, and therein lies the basis for this story.**

**A/N: All righty then, here's the deal - This fic takes place after Cassidy's transfer to Narcotics at the end of the first season of SVU (which my mother keeps referring to as SUV), so really, it's not a SVU fic, but since there's no Narc division of the Law and Order franchise, this will just have to do. Peace.**

Brian Cassidy strode into Narcotics division of the one-six precinct, looking none too happy. Not only was it his first day at a new job, but it was one that required him being awake and functioning at inhumane hours of the morning.

He came to a stop shortly after entering, at a loss for what to do next. He had visited the place once before, when he was still with Special Victims, but didn't retain much. At the time, he hadn't had to. He stood there forlornly for a few minutes before someone noticed him.

"Can I help you?" A tall, rather handsome looking man in his late twenties to early thirties asked. Brian stared at him, thinking that he might have some competition for best looking in the office.

"Uh, yeah. I'm Brian Cassidy, I'm supposed to start here today."

The other man's face lit up.

"Oh, so you're the newbie. Great. I'm Kyle Masters, and my partner is somewhere around here." Kyle looked around for a moment before spotting a slightly shorter, stockier man. "Hey Scott! Get over here!"

The proclaimed Scott made his way over to where Kyle and Brian were standing, cup of coffee in hand.

"Yeah? What do you want?" He noticed Brian. "Oh, so you must be the newbie. I'm Scott Porter, nice to meet you." Scott stuck out for Brian to shake, which he did.

"Brian Cassidy," Brian said. "So, you guys like it here?"

Kyle and Scott exchanged looks.

"You can't be in this kind of work if you don't. Wasn't it the same in Special Victims?"

Brian was taken aback by the unexpected question. He didn't think people here would be aware of the conditions of his transfer. He recovered quickly, however, and responded.

"Yeah, I guess."

He was saved from having to go any further when a portly, balding man who reminded Brian oddly of Cragen stuck his head and torso out an office door.

"Porter! Masters! Is Sam in yet?"

Scott shook his head in the negative.

"No, but the newbie is."

The man exited the office, smoothing his wrinkled tie in a vain attempt to look somewhat presentable. He strode over to where the other three now stood and looked Brian over hard. Finally, just as Brian was starting to worry, his face broke into a smile and he pulled Brian into a tight embrace.

Brian, initially shocked at the sudden - and not to mention public - display of emotion, recovered quickly and reluctantly hugged the man back. Kyle and Scott sniggered silently behind their hands.

Eventually, the older man pulled away and introduced himself as Captain Timothy (Tim) Jefferson, not to be confused with Thomas Jefferson. Apparently his parents had had a cruel sense of humor.

Once the introductions were over, Tim turned to the door.

"Where the hell is Carson? She was supposed to be in half an hour ago, and she knew it!"

Brian was momentarily stunned by the mention of a "she." He realized he shouldn't be, since there were indeed women who were police officers - and damn good ones, too - and as a matter of fact he had worked with a number of them. All right, it was three, but it was still more than zero. He supposed that there was just something about the atmosphere of the place that made him think that the place was male-dominated.

"You know Sam, Captain," Kyle stated with a smirk, "She probably stopped for coffee and pretended to blow a tire to cover up for being late."

As if on cue, a blur of color came flying into the office, stopping abruptly by the boys.

"Sorry, sorry, sorry, sorry, sorry, sorry!" The blur, who, now that it had stopped moving and being so blurish, was indeed a female. And a rather attractive one at that, Brian thought, noting the way her long brown hair was pulled hurriedly back into a messy bun that still somehow managed to look good. "My tire blew out on the way here, and it took the repair guy for_ever_ to get there to fix it, and-"

"And you used the spare tire when this happened last week so you couldn't just fix it yourself?" Tim volunteered. The newcomer flashed him a wry smile.

"Exactly."

"And somehow you managed to find the time to stop for coffee, eh Sam?" Kyle gave her a roguish wink.

"Well, uh, you know how those repair guys are, always wanting their coffee and all."

"Uh huh." Skeptical looks were exchanged all along. Brian was just beginning to feel rather lost and unnoticed when the woman turned to him.

"And you would be...?"

For what seemed like the hundredth time that morning, Brian was caught with his shorts down. It took him a moment before he was able to provide his name, which was supplied for him courtesy of Scott.

"This would be the newbie. Brian Cassidy. Brian, this is Samantha Carson."

"Ooh! I feel enlightened." She turned to Brian. "And it's Sam. Nobody calls me Samantha unless they want a swift kick in the groin." She glared pointedly at Kyle, who had a pained expression on his face, as if recalling a particularly unpleasant memory.

"So," Sam said, taking a deep swig of her coffee, "I suppose we'll be working together, then."

This took a moment to sink in with Brian, who was still trying to wrap his mind around everything that had happened thus far.

"You mean...?"

"Yup, that's right!" Kyle said cheerily, draping an arm around both Brian and Sam. "That's your new partner. Good luck, and believe me, I do not envy you, my friend."

Sam glared at him.

"You just wish your partner was a good looking and charming as me," she shot back, "Just because you got stuck with him" - she jerked her head in Scott's direction - "doesn't mean that you can try to convince every noob that I'm a horrible person just so you can work with me."

"Oh, burn!" Scott laughed, obviously used to such antics. Brian just looked on in amazement. He had always thought the the people in Special Victims were close, but these guys had a relationship that seemed to be on an entirely different level.

"Yeah, and you're so modest too." Tim teased. Sam's response was to stick her tongue out at them all in a mature fashion. Brian wondered how it would be possible to be accepted into such a group; they seemed so close, more like a family than anything else.

Before the insults could go any further, however, the phone rang. Sam jumped at the chance to answer it, literally. She vaulted over a chair and leaned over a desk to get to the ringing phone and picked it up.

"Carson." She fell silent for a moment, presumably getting information. Her hand moved to write an address on a piece of paper that was sitting on the desk. "All right, we'll be right there."

"We got something?" Kyle asked.

"Nah, that was just my salon calling telling me that they can take me for a hair appointment later today. Yes we got something. Come on now, let's be real."

The idea of such a girl going to a salon seemed rather absurd, even to Brian. She was clad in grey sweats and a red tank top, and her hair was still rather disheveled. He thought back to Olivia. She never would have worn something like that into work, unless there was no other option. And even then, she would have borrowed something from someone.

"Let me go change and we'll jet, all right?" The question was directed at Brian, who didn't have the chance to answer as Sam took off in the direction of the staff lockers.

Minutes later, she reemerged, now wearing black dress pants and matching jacket. A dark green tie complimented the ensemble. Even so, it was something considerably more appropriate for this line of work than what she had previously been wearing.

Tim rolled his eyes.

"You can never just wear decent clothes, can you?"

Sam gave him a look and he answered his own question.

"Apparently not." He turned to Brian, who was still standing in the same place that he had been before. "You ready for your first case?"

Brian nodded, swallowing hard. He wasn't really sure he was ready for anything around this group.


	2. Brian's First Case

**Disclaimer: If I owned Brian Cassidy or anyone else in the SVU cast, would I really need seasons 1 and 2 on DVD for my birthday? No. I think not. The other... four, i think, however, are mine, so if you really wanna steal them, go ahead. Just give me some warning first, all right?**

SCREEEEEEEEECH! Brian was forced to grip the dashboard in front of him in order to remain in his seat. He had made the mistake of riding with Sam, who was more than a _little_ hyped up on caffeine that morning.

"Woo hoo!" she cheered, pumping her fists in the air. "That was fun!"

Brian stared at her.

"How was that fun? We almost got killed!"

Sam smiled, a hint of insanity sparkling in her eyes.

"Nah, I know how to drive. Trust me, we had another good ten inches before we would have hit that truck."

Before Brian had the chance to protest, however, a uniformed police officer knocked on the driver's side window of their car. Sam lowered the object in question and waited for a response.

"You with Narc?"

"No," Sam said, opening the door and stepping out, allowing the sarcasm that was dripping from her voice to form a puddle on the asphalt, "We're from Vice. Yes we're with Narc, Detectives Carson and Cassidy. What do you got?"

Brian had to repress an amused chuckle as they followed the uniform to the crime scene. There, on the ground, was a high school looking boy, dressed in all black, dead. Brian took a moment to compose himself while Sam started immediately for the boy's arm.

With one swift movement, she had the sleeve up and forearm exposed, revealing more track marks than Brian had ever seen on one person before.

"Ah," she said dryly, "Nothing like the smell of cocaine at" - she paused and checked her watch - "7:30 in the morning. Is there anything more to this?"

The uniform which, up until this point, had not been providing any information whatsoever, sprang into gear.

"We think he might have been a member of a drug smuggling ring that's been transporting raw cocaine in and out of the country for some time now. It's possible that-" He was cut off as Sam stood up sharply.

"Do you have any evidence _whatsoever_ to back up that claim?"

The uniform stopped, at a loss for words.

"Well, um, we-"

"Not good enough. Do you know where this supposed ring is based?"

The uniform shook his head slowly.

"Do you even know what this kid's name is?" The level of frustration in her voice was becoming clearly apparent.

"Well...no..."

"No? No? Did you even look?" Without waiting for an answer, Sam reached into the boy's pocket and pulled out a leather wallet. Less than thirty seconds of searching produced an ID card. "What do we have here? Oh look, Bradley Thompson, age seventeen, a senior at P.S. 119. What stunning detective work you've done here, officer."

The officer suddenly found his shoes to be very interesting. Sam sighed in exasperation.

"Detective Cassidy, would you be so kind as to explain to this nice man here what the chances of this kid being at the center of a drug smuggling operation when he attends school full time is?"

Brian was momentarily caught off guard by the sudden change in attention, but he managed to recover quickly.

"Zero to none."

"Zero to none," Sam echoed, not sounding very impressed at all with New York's finest. "And for that you feel the need to pull me out of my nice, warm bed and waste a full hour and a half of my time?"

Brian ingeniously refrained from pointing out that she had already been awake for some time when the call came in. The uniform, in the meantime, had flushed a very pretty shade of red and was ringing his hat in his hands.

"Yes..." he replied in a very small voice.

"Mm. And this won't happen again, now will it, officer?"

"No, ma'am."

"Good. That's what I thought. Now, really, for this I should report you to your supervisor, but, ya know, that really requires quite a bit of effort, and I'm feeling a bit sluggish this morning. I don't suppose you'd happen to have any of that yummy coffee I know you cops are so fond of in that car of yours, now would ya?"

The uniform stared at Sam for a moment in shocked surprise before responding.

"Yes..."

"Good. Gimme."

As was to be expected, the uniform wasn't the only one staring at her now.

"Did I stutter? I said give it to me."

The uniform stood there for another fraction of a second before hurrying off to his squad car to grant her request. In his absence, Brian took the opportunity to ask a question.

"Can you really do that?"

Sam grinned.

"Technically, not supposed to, but he's a noob, and I usually cut them some slack. How would you like it if the first day on the job I reported you for not gathering basic evidence?"

"That would not be good." Brian agreed.

"Exactly. Which is precisely why I just scare 'em a little bit and take their coffee."

As she spoke the words, the uniform came rushing back, cup of coffee in hand.

"Here you go, ma'am."

"Thank you. Now make sure this kind of thing never happens again, all right?"

The uniform nodded frantically but remained where he was standing.

"You can go now." Sam said, giving him a strange look. And inform that kid's parents, all right?"

He nodded frantically again and scampered off. Sam rolled her eyes.

"Noobs..." she muttered, exasperated. She turned back to Brian and said, "So, you ready to head out?"

Brian nodded, still a bit unsure of what he had just witnessed.

"All right, let's go, then." With that, the two of them climbed back into the car, one ignoring the other's protests that she shouldn't be allowed to drive in populated areas.

SCREEEEEEEEEEECH!

"Wow, that stop sign just popped out of nowhere, huh?"

**All right, yeah, the smart ones among you realized that this is totally a filler chapter, since I needed to write something and it didn't progress that plot AT ALL. Don't look forward to the next chapter for a while yet, since I really have NO idea WHATSOEVER what's happening after this. Peace!**


	3. Brian's First Beating

**Disclaimer: I own the leftovers from the massive party I'm throwing tomorrow. That's about it. Oh, and everyone who isn't Cassidy in this story.**

By the time Brian and Sam arrived back at the station house, things had gotten slightly out of hand in regards to Sam's superior driving skills.

"Really, if you weren't my partner, I would have arrested you for doing that." Brian commented once he was at a safe distance from the caffeine-charged woman.

"For doing what? I didn't do anything illegal _per say_." Sam looked indignant.

"Except for nearly run over those four people and the biker." Brian exclaimed in disbelief.

"Oh come on, they should have known better than to walk into the road when the 'do not walk' sign was about to come on."

"And how exactly were they supposed to know it was about to change? Not everyone is a psychic as you, you know!" Brian cried, exasperated.

Before Sam had the opportunity to scoff at such an outrageous claim, Kyle walked into the room. He took one look at the expression on Brian's face and knew exactly what had happened.

"You let her drive?" he exclaimed in disbelief, "Didn't anyone tell you to _never_ let Sam drive? _Especially _when she's had coffee, which is essentially all the time?"

Brian shook his head, looking a bit put out. Sam, however, grinned widely.

"Guess you should've filled 'im in, huh, Ky?" she said, looking very happy with herself.

"I didn't think I'd have to..." Kyle mumbled.

"Didn't think you'd have to?" Scott entered in on the conversation. "Did you suffer from a severe concussion and forget that this is _Sam_ we're talking about here?"

"I know, I know."

Before anyone else had the chance to make yet another smart-ass remark, s teenage boy entered the station house, looking slightly confused.

"I'll handle this!" Sam called, eager to get away from the group of people sending her dirty looks.

"Oh no you won't!" Tim exclaimed, having overheard the entire exchange from his office. "Cassidy, go with her."

Brian nodded once before tailing his partner to the boy. When he arrived, he heard Sam asking him what he needed.

"So, what can we do to help you?" she asked with a bit more enthusiasm than she should have.

"The school told me that something happened to Bradley. Do you know anything?"

Sam's cheerful expression dropped off her face and was replaced with one of confusion.

"Bradley Thompson," Brian whispered in her ear, "The junkie from earlier."

"Ooh!" Sam looked enlightened. "Yes, well, something did indeed happen. Do you happen to know if Bradley was into any drugs, um...?"

"Jamie."

"Jamie." Sam repeated.

"Yeah. Why?"

Brian ignored the question and answered with one of his own.

"Do you know what kind?"

"Coke, ecstasy, weed. Basically whatever he could get his hands on."

"Mm," Sam took over again, "Was he dealing or just using?"

"Only using, as far as I know. Why?"

"Because he was found dead this morning and we want to know why, that's why."

This seemed to throw Jamie for a loop.

"Dead? But... but he was fine yesterday until..." at that, he trailed off.

"Until what?" Brian prompted.

"Him and Tara had a fight last night. She kicked him out."

"Wait, as in they were living together?" Sam looked confounded, so much so that she didn't even bother to correct the boy's grammar.

"Yeah." Jamie gave her a look that very obviously said that he thought she was a full-blown idiot. "She found his stash and wasn't into it, man. She wanted him out. He said he'd be fine; I took his word for it. And now..."

Sam and Brian exchanged looks.

"All right, Jamie, we're going to need an address for this Tara. Do you have one?"

Jamie nodded.

"Okay."

Sam prodded him to a desk and placed a pad of paper and a pen in front of him. When Jamie was finished writing, she picked up the paper and observed what was written on it.

"Apartment building on 49th and 12th, number 4C. Let's go, Cassidy."

"All right, but this time I'm driving."

_49th and 12th_

_Apartment 4C_

"All right, so we get in, paw around inside a bit, get out, you got that?" Sam asked, still annoyed that she had been stripped of her driving privileges.

Brian nodded.

"In and out. Got it."

"Good." Sam knocked on the door. "Police, open up!"

The sounds of muffled talking and shuffling were heard from inside the apartment. A moment later, the lock was undone and the door was opened by a high school age girl.

"Yeah?"

"Detectives Carson and Cassidy, NYPD. Are you Tara?"

The girl nodded.

"Is this about Brad?"

Sam and Brian exchanged looks.

"Should it be?" Brian asked.

"Look, whatever he told you, it's a lie. I didn't do nothing to 'im."

"Mm." Sam was obviously unconvinced. "Look, can we come in?"

"I'd rather you not."

"Too bad." Brian pushed past the girl, Sam following close behind.

"Nice place you've got here." Sam commented, surveying the mess that composed the apartment. "Oh, and who do we have here?"

Brian followed her into another room and saw a man sitting on a laundry-laden couch. It took less than five seconds for the man to realize that they were cops and jumped up.

"Not so fast, tough guy." Brian exclaimed, tackling him to the ground when he attempted to take off. The next thing Brian knew, he was by himself on the ground, and both Tara and the man were gone.

"Shit!" Sam cursed, entering the room that she had apparently left. "They got away."

"What happened?" Brian asked, sitting up and touching his nose, which was streaming blood.

"Ooh, that looks nasty." Sam commented, grabbing a shirt from the pile and balling it up. "Ass hole slugged you and took off. By the time I figured out what had happened, that Tara chick was long gone. Captain's gonna have my hide for this one..."

She knelt down beside Brian and pressed the shirt to his still-bleeding nose.

"That's gonna leave a mark. Don't be surprised tomorrow when you wake up with two black eyes."

Brian groaned.

"I guess my entry to 'New York's Most Eligible Bachelor' should be withdrawn, then."

Sam grinned.

"I dunno," she said jokingly. "I think there's still a chance for you yet."

"There better be..." Brian muttered under his breath, hardly aware that he had said anything at all.

They sat there in silence for a moment longer, neither one really wanting to get up and move around just then. Eventually, Sam broke the silence.

"We should probably get back to the station. The others'll be wondering where we ran off too."

"Yeah." Brian nodded in agreement. As they stood to leave, he asked, "Should we poke around a little while we're here?"

Sam shook her head.

"Can't unless it's in plain sight. However, assault of a police officer should be enough to get a warrant to search the place. Too bad Novak hates my guts...Kieran was the one she liked..." She trailed off, looking annoyed. "Anyway, we should get you checked out. I don't want to have to go around with a broken partner, anyway."

Brian smiled.

"Well, in that case, let's go, shall we?"

Sam nodded in agreement and the two left the apartment, making a point of letting the door slam shut behind them.

**All right, so I lied in my last note. You all have Kerri to thank for the update, since she was the one who gave me the idea. The next three-ish chapters should be up soon, since I know what's happening in the next one, and the others are already written (don't ask). And remember, reviews make the world go round!**

**Arg, this would have been up yesterday, but the site wasn't letting me on. Blame it, not me.**


	4. Danger Signs

**Disclaimer: Check the other chapters.**

"I still can't believe you let him hit you," Sam chuckled as they strode into the station house, Brian's nose still bleeding spectacularly.

"Thanks oh so much for you support," Brian grumbled, not looking too happy.

As Sam went off to get an ice pack for him, Brian sat down at his desk. Within a matter of seconds, he was surrounded by the rest of the unit, including the Captain.

"Ouch, that looks painful," commented Kyle helpfully. Brian shot him a glare that would have made Hitler proud.

"Was it Sam's driving?" Scott asked. "Did she finally crash?"

"No, that would be from the guy who decided to use Cassidy's face as a punching bag." Sam had arrived back in the room at that moment, none to pleased with the accusation. She handed the bag of ice to Brian, who removed the shirt from his face and switched items.

"Someone decided to use your face as a punching bag?" Tim asked, a look of mock horror plastered on his features. "What the hell did you say to make them do that?"

"Oh, just how I thought his sister was hot and I wanted to do her," Brian retorted snarkily. "I didn't do anything!"

"Except exist, right, Sam?" Scott grinned.

"Precisely." Sam said, grinning back. "No, but really, we went to go interview that Tara chick that the friend of the dead junkie told us about and found a guy in her apartment that decided that Cassidy here was just too damn pretty for his own good and socked 'im for it."

"Don't tell me," Tim said, groaning, "You let them get away."

Sam suddenly was very interested in a stain on the ceiling.

"Well, what was I supposed to do? Shoot them both for doing nothing that we have any proof for? Last time I checked, that was still against the rules."

"Let me guess," Tim continued, "You didn't get a name on the guy, either."

"Well..." - Tim shot her a glare - "No, sir, we didn't. Once he found out we were cops, he just took off."

"Slugging the rookie here in the process." Kyle added.

"Right. But if he was that spooked, he probably knows something."

"Or has a list of priors. Cassidy, could you identify him from a lineup?"

"If you're asking me if I saw anything before the little birdies began circling my head, the answer would be yes." Brian winced as the ice pack began to fully numb the inflicted area.

"Good. Carson, set him up with a picture array. Actually, no, Masters, I want you to do it. Sam was there, she would probably try to taint Brian's decision."

"Hey!" Sam stopped short, realizing that he had a point. "Never mind."

Tim surveyed the group.

"Now, if they're aren't any more objections, let's get this guy, shall we?"

Nods of agreement frequented the circle. Kyle led Brian away, and Sam announced she was going to go change, then head out to check on a victim from another case. As the former walked, he inquired about the visit his partner was going to make.

"Oh, that?" Kyle said once Brian asked, "There was this little kid whose father was a drug addict - Special K, mostly. Sam and Keiran bagged him, but not before the little boy was beaten almost to death during one of his high times. Sam says he reminds her a lot of a kid she used to know, and since then has been making regular visits to check up on him with his new adoptive family. It's pretty cute, actually. Seeing her with that kid, you would think they've known each other all their lives."

"I see." Brian thought for a moment. "Was Keiran her old partner?"

Kyle looked sad for a moment.

"Yeah. She and Sam got along great. Then... well, you should have Sam tell you. It's not really something I feel comfortable discussing." With that, the two detectives sat down and began to work on the identity of Brian's assailant.

Somewhere around the middle of the list of possibilities, they struck gold.

"There," Brian said, pointing to a picture at the bottom left-hand corner of the sheet, "That's him."

"You sure?" Kyle asked, pulling the picture out from the plastic covering.

"Am I sure that that's the guy who used my face as a punching bag? Yeah, I'm sure."

"Tyrone Akim," Kyle read, "Prior convictions for drug trafficking and possession. Somehow made bail and did no time because of it. That's interesting..."

"What?" Brian walked over to the other side of the table and read over Kyle's shoulder.

"Bail was paid by a Tara Peterson. I think we have our guys."

At that moment, Sam walked by, looking considerably less formal and more preoccupied. Both men picked up on that fact, and headed out of the room to follow her.

"Sam? Everything all right?" Kyle asked, laying a hand on her shoulder.

Sam jumped, clearly not expecting the contact.

"What? Yeah, everything's fine. I'll be back in a while, okay?" Without waiting for a response, she continued walking.

"Well that was strange..." Kyle murmured. Brian secretly agreed. He hadn't spend much time with the girl, but already he could tell that something was a bit off with her. Not that it took a rocket scientist to figure that one out, judging by her demeanor.

"What was that about?" Scott asked when they joined him. "Sam just walked right by without saying a word. That's not something that you see happen everyday."

"No, it isn't," Tim agreed. "I'll have a talk with her later. In the meantime, I want Masters and Porter doing checks on that dead junkie's friends."

"We already got something," Kyle said as he handed a piece of paper to the Captain, "The girlfriend of the dead kid, turns out she's in cahoots with the guy who socked Brian. Payed his bail last time he was caught."

"Good. Go find out everything you can about what was going on there. Call when you've got something."

Kyle and Scott immediately grabbed jackets and headed for the door, leaving Brian and Tim standing there.

"What do you want me to do?" asked the former, being unaccustomed to having to do things on his own.

"Get that nose checked out and go home. It's not every day that you get assaulted on your first day on the job."

"But-"

"Go. We can handle things here. I expect to see you here bright and early tomorrow morning."

Brian reluctantly agreed.

**Ack! Crappy ending! I think I've been reading too much of Kerri's stuff... Just kidding, hun. /mutters/ I'm _so_ not getting my presents because of that... On a happier note, the next two chapters are already written, so expect them to be up within the next week. Ya know, like, all two of you.**


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